Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Yesterday, I made a good dinner from leftovers. I topped it off with a vanilla pound cake, the recipe I got from, surprisingly, the Land O'Lakes website. Did you know they have a gluten-free recipe section? It was really good. I altered it a little bit, I've been using a vanilla syrup I found at the Asian grocery store since I've been going through almost a bottle of vanilla a week, and if you know anything about vanilla, its expensive. Especially if you work at the grocery store. Also, I'm out of white sugar, so I used brown sugar, which gave the cake a darker color and a kind of honey-er taste. My mom used to make a lemon pound cake and cover it with a lemon syrup that my sister and I loved, I attempted to replicate that to go with this cake and it went perfectly. The cake is dense, delicious, sweet and heavy, the lemon syrup picks it upand makes you want to lick the plate, no matter how much dinner you ate and how big a piece you cut yourself.

After a huge dinner and a big slice of this cake, I turned to Alex and said "Seriously, who needs gluten? Look at that cake!" Or something along those lines. He wholeheartedly agreed with me. I don't remember the exact words of the conversation, but he told me that when we first started dating, he worried about eating with me. Gluten-free seemed hard. But since he's been with me, it hasn't been a problem, ever. We've had almost a year of easy, happy, delicious, gluten-free meals together. I cook dinner most nights lately, and every night I seem to surprise him with whatever we're having. He defends me to people at work who think I can't eat gluten-free and well, at the same time. I bring in samples of cakes and cookies when I can, and haven't heard anything but praise. My supervisor calls me her little Betty Crocker. I'm happy, and I'm glad that Alex is happy, and not struggling, with my being gluten-free. When we go on vacation in a week and a half, we're going to my mom's first for a few days, and I can't wait to bake with/for my mom. She used to bake a lot when we were kids (at least that's how I remember it, and how I think I learned about baking) and I don't think she bakes much now. She's gluten-free too, and has been much longer than I have. I want to teach myself to make the baked goods she made us when we were little, but gluten-free. Someday I want to make cardamom bread for Christmas, like she used to, but gluten-free.

In other news, I finished Harry Potter, and my god. I was not disappointed. I came home from work to finish it, I read the last 100 pages in one sitting, and then had to sit in bed for about 10 minutes because I honestly didn't know what to do with myself. It was so good. It ended so perfectly.Vanilla Pound Cake, ala Land O'Lakes, with changes

Preheat oven to 350. Combine sugar and butter, beat at medium speed for about a minute.Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Add vanilla syrup and beat again. (If you don't have vanilla syrup, you can just follow the directions and use 2 cups of sugar adn 4 t vanilla) Sift together flour, baking powder, and xantham gum, add in 3 parts, beating well after each addition, alternating with the milk. Beat until combined. Pour into a 10 inch angel food cake pan or a Bundt cake pan (I don't have one) Bake an hour until a toothpick or knife comes out clean, cool 10 mins, remove from pan and cool completely.Lemon syrup2 lemons1/4 c sugar2 T water

Juice lemons into a small saucepan, add sugar and water, heat until dissolved and then a little bit further. Taste for sweetness, add more sugar as necessary. Pour warm syrup over cake, enjoy!

This was by far the best part of our Easter Dinner for me!!! This cake was absolutely fantastic! Heavenly, dense, slightly sweet (we didn't use the lemon syrup), and just wonderful!! Reminds me of my great-grandma's pound cakes. Absolutely delicious!!!